Never Put It Down On Paper Love Notes Too Often Become ‘Exhibit B,’ Says Columnist

Glenn O’Brien is the Miss Lonelyhearts of Details magazine. In a recent issue, he offered the following advice concerning love letters:

Don’t write any.

“It seems like love letters usually wind up in the wrong hands,” he wrote, “or as Exhibit B.”

A letter was handy in the pre-telephone days, O’Brien wrote. “Now it is often used by people who don’t have the nerve to express their true feelings verbally.”

If you absolutely need to work out every word beforehand, though, he has a suggestion: Try sending a “love fax or one erotic e-mail.”

Our advice: Make sure you don’t mistakenly send the message to your entire office.

What a drag it is getting old: Carvel, the ice cream company, wanted to know what people wished for when they blew out birthday candles. So the company conducted a survey. Get ready: It seems that 61 percent of all boys under 10 who want to be superheroes want to be Catwoman.

What’s for dinner, hon? Speaking of surveys, the Washington Post reports that a poll included in James Thornton’s book “Chore Wars” (Conari Press, 224 pages, $13.95 paper) offered women a choice: Would you rather marry a man who looked like Robert Redford but did no chores around the house, or a man who looked like Danny DeVito but did half the chores?

The result? Some 46 percent picked Redford, while 43 percent preferred DeVito.

The remaining 11 percent? Maybe they don’t believe in fairy tales.

, DataTimes MEMO: Common Ground is written on alternating weeks by Rebecca Nappi and Dan Webster. Write to them in care of The Spokesman-Review, Features Department, P.O. Box 2160, Spokane, WA 99210-1615. Or fax, (509) 459-5098.